Casinos

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many licensed casinos were in operation in each local authority area under the provisions of  (a) the Gambling Act 1968 and  (b) the Gambling Act 2005 in each year since 1997.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Gambling Commission have advised that to date there have been no premises licences issued under the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 in relation to casinos.
	The Gambling Act1968 has seen casinos located in 53 distinct 'permitted areas' in which the licensing for clubs for gaming other than bingo is permitted.
	Details of the number of casinos operating in each permitted area for each year can be found in the annual reports of the Gambling Commission and its predecessor the Gaming Board. Copies of these reports are laid in the Library and are also available on the Gambling Commission's website at:
	www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk

Departmental Contracts

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which services his Department has outsourced in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department has not outsourced any new services within the last five years. A number of services have been outsourced prior to this period such as:
	Facilities Managements,
	Information Technology,
	Catering Services,
	Records Management, and
	Mailroom Services.

Funding

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how much funding the Community Fund has  (a) committed and  (b) distributed since its creation;
	(2)  how much funding the Big Lottery Fund has  (a) committed and  (b) distributed since its creation.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 8 May 2009
	The Big Lottery Fund has advised that from 1 December 2006, when it was legally created from the merger of the Community Fund, New Opportunities Fund and Millennium Commission it has awarded £1,898 million and distributed £1,433 million to grant recipients.
	The distribution includes outstanding payments to Community Fund, New Opportunities Fund and Millennium Commission grant holders.
	In the period from the Community Fund's inception in 1993 until 30 November 2006, it awarded £3,863 million and distributed £2,926 million to grant recipients.
	The Community Fund's first grants were awarded in October 1995, following their legal creation in 1993. Many Community Fund projects are still in management and delivering benefits to communities, they therefore are still drawing money down from their grant allocation.

Sports Equity Alliance

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding  (a) his Department,  (b) Sport England and  (c) UK Sport has provided to each member of Sport England's Sports Equity Alliance in each of the last five years; and how much each has allocated to each member of the Alliance in the next expenditure round.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not fund Sport England's Sports Equity Alliance directly. Funding is channelled through Sport England and UK Sport.
	Sport England has advised that their core revenue funding to Equity Partners over the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			   English Federation of Disability Sport  Sporting Equals  Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation 
			 2004-05 1,050,000 140,000 200,000 
			 2005-06 1,050,000 140,000 200,000 
			 2006-07 1,010,333 319,334 462,333 
			 2007-08 951,066 317,066 419,898 
			 2008-09 1,100,000 376,419 541,250 
			 2009-10 (first quarter)(1) 275,000 81,604 135,125 
			 (1 )Funding has been awarded for the first quarter only of 2009-10 pending consideration by Sport England of applications from the equity partners that detail how they propose working to support National Governing Bodies and other sport deliverers in the period 2009-11. 
		
	
	UK Sport has advised that they have provided the following funding to each member of Sport England's Sports Equity Alliance over the past five years:
	
		
			  Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (formerly the Women's Sports Foundation) 
			   Funding from UK Sport (£) 
			 2004-05 8,659.50 
			 2005-06 8,641.35 
			 2006-07 8,800.25 
			 2007-08 376 
			 2008-09 229.13 
		
	
	
		
			  Sporting Equals 
			   Funding from UK Sport (£) 
			 2004-05 356.67 
			 2005-06 98.56 
			 2006-07 2,553.65 
			 2007-08 2,749.38 
			 2008-09 4,020 
		
	
	
		
			  English Federation of Disability Sport 
			   Funding from UK Sport (£) 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 0 
			 2006-07 0 
			 2007-08 0 
			 2008-09 0

Sports: Training

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many voluntary community sports coaches have been recruited under the Recruiting to Coach scheme since its inception.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 8 May 2009
	Sport England have advised that 2,389 voluntary community sports coaches have been recruited under the Recruit into Coaching scheme since its inception.

Trade Unions

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2009,  Official Report, column 22W, on trade unions, what office facilities his Department provides for the exclusive use of each recognised trade union; and what the notional annual value of such provision is.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department have one full-time trade union representative. The Department provide a desk, computer and telephone in the open plan office area. The trade union representative also has access to other shared office facilities such as meeting rooms, photocopying, scanning and faxing.
	The cost per annum of providing accommodation and office facilities per-full time equivalent is £11,939.

Air Pollution: Torbay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his most recent assessment is of air quality in the Torbay local authority area; and what steps the Government are taking to improve air quality in the area.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Local authorities have a duty under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to review and assess the current, and likely future, air quality in their areas, and to submit reports on local air quality to DEFRA.
	Where local authorities consider that one or more of nationally prescribed air quality objectives is unlikely to be met by the relevant deadline, they must declare an air quality management area (AQMA) covering the area affected. These local authorities must then take action, along with other agencies and organisations, to work towards meeting the air quality objectives. Torbay council declared AQMAs in respect of nitrogen dioxide objectives in April 2005 and May 2006. The council has produced an action plan setting out the measures they are implementing in order to improve air quality in the area. Since local road transport is the primary cause of local air pollution in these AQMAs, Torbay council has integrated its air quality action plan into the Torbay Local Transport Plan 2006-2011, a copy of which is available at:
	www.torbay.gov.uk
	DEFRA has assessed, and is satisfied with Torbay council's 2008 progress report, and we await the council's air quality report for 2009.
	The Government provide guidance and practical support to assist local authorities with their duties on review and assessment of air quality, and to ensure consistency and best practice. Revised and updated guidance was published in February on the DEFRA website at:
	www.defra.gov.uk
	The Government also fund several helplines which local authorities can contact for practical and technical advice on monitoring, modelling, emission inventories and air quality action plan measures. All local authorities are invited each year to bid for air quality grant aid, and applications are considered and awards made towards the cost of air quality projects in local areas.

Departmental Air Travel

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 477W, on departmental carbon emissions, what the figures for  (a) domestic,  (b) short-haul and  (c) long-haul air travel for 2007-08 are.

Geoff Hoon: The Department for Transport's contribution to the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund for 2007-08 was based on the following mileage:  (a) domestic 694,279 miles,  (b) short-haul 821,645 miles, and  (c) long-haul 1,940,261 miles.

Departmental Capital Expenditure

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 2 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1413W, on departmental capital expenditure, what progress his Department has made in allocating the £700 million capital spending advanced to 2009-10.

Geoff Hoon: Pursuant to the answer of 2 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1413W, on capital expenditure, the £700 million advanced to 2009-10 has been allocated as follows; £400 million to the Highways Agency for strategic network road improvements, including dualling the A46 Newark to Widmerpool and £300 million to the Rail group for train procurement.

Shipping: Pollution

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold discussions at EU level to seek to establish a low emission shipping zone in European coastal waters.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A Sulphur Oxides (SOx) Emission Control Area has been in force in the North Sea area (including the English Channel) since 2007. Since then, the UK has played a significant role in the development of the revised MARPOL Annex VI which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted last year and which will result in a further significant reduction of emissions from ships of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides, and improved air quality in our coastal regions. We consistently seek to develop measures to reduce ship emissions in fora such as the IMO and the European Union.

Fuel Poverty

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many  (a) people and  (b) households were in fuel poverty in each local authority area in each year since 2000; and what the Government's target for fuel poverty reduction was in each such year.

Joan Ruddock: Since 2000, fuel poverty at a sub-regional level is only available for 2003, for England. The data for fuel poverty levels for 2003 come from the Fuel Poverty Indicator dataset available online at:
	http://www.fuelpovertyindicator.co.uk/
	The following table shows estimated fuel poverty levels for each local authority in England in 2003:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Allerdale 2,700 
			 Barrow in Furness 2,200 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 3,900 
			 Blackpool 4,400 
			 Bolton 7,100 
			 Burnley 2,700 
			 Bury 4,700 
			 Carlisle 2,900 
			 Chester 3,100 
			 Chorley 2,600 
			 Congleton 2,200 
			 Copeland 2,100 
			 Crewe and Nantwich 3,000 
			 Eden 1,500 
			 Ellesmere Port and Neston 2,100 
			 Fylde 2,000 
			 Halton 3,200 
			 Hyndburn 2,400 
			 Knowsley 4,200 
			 Lancaster 3,700 
			 Liverpool 14,200 
			 Macclesfield 3,700 
			 Manchester 11,900 
			 Oldham 5,700 
			 Pendle 2,600 
			 Preston 3,600 
			 Ribble Valley 1,400 
			 Rochdale 5,500 
			 Rossendale 1,800 
			 Salford 6,400 
			 Sefton 8,000 
			 South Lakeland 2,800 
			 South Ribble 2,500 
			 St Helens 4,900 
			 Stockport 7,300 
			 Tameside 5,800 
			 Trafford 5,500 
			 Vale Royal 3,100 
			 Warrington 4,800 
			 West Lancashire 2,800 
			 Wigan 8,300 
			 Wirral 9,200 
			 Wyre 2,900 
			  North West Total 187,400 
			   
			 Adur 1,400 
			 Arun 3,500 
			 Ashford 2,500 
			 Aylesbury Vale 3,600 
			 Basingstoke and Deane 3,400 
			 Bracknell Forest 2,200 
			 Brighton and Hove 6,500 
			 Canterbury 3,300 
			 Cherwell 2,900 
			 Chichester 2,600 
			 Chiltern 1,900 
			 Crawley 2,100 
			 Dartford 2,000 
			 Dover 2,900 
			 East Hampshire 2,400 
			 Eastbourne 2,400 
			 Eastleigh 2,500 
			 Elmbridge 2,700 
			 Epsom and Ewell 1,400 
			 Fareham 2,400 
			 Gosport 1,900 
			 Gravesham 2,300 
			 Guildford 2,800 
			 Hart 1,800 
			 Hastings 2,500 
			 Havant 2,800 
			 Horsham 2,700 
			 Isle of Wight 3,800 
			 Lewes 2,200 
			 Maidstone 3,300 
			 Medway 6,200 
			 Mid Sussex 2,800 
			 Milton Keynes 4,700 
			 Mole Valley 1,800 
			 New Forest 4,000 
			 Oxford 2,900 
			 Portsmouth 5,200 
			 Reading 3,200 
			 Reigate and Banstead 2,700 
			 Rother 2,300 
			 Runnymede 1,700 
			 Rushmoor 1,900 
			 Sevenoaks 2,500 
			 Shepway 2,600 
			 Slough 2,300 
			 South Bucks 1,300 
			 South Oxfordshire 2,900 
			 Southampton 5,600 
			 Spelthorne 2,000 
			 Surrey Heath 1,700 
			 Swale 3,100 
			 Tandridge 1,700 
			 Test Valley 2,500 
			 Thanet 3,700 
			 Tonbridge and Mailing 2,400 
			 Tunbridge Wells 2,500 
			 Vale of White Horse 2,500 
			 Waverley 2,600 
			 Wealden 3,300 
			 West Berkshire 3,100 
			 West Oxfordshire 2,100 
			 Winchester 2,400 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 2,900 
			 Woking 1,900 
			 Wokingham 3,000 
			 Worthing 2,500 
			 Wycombe 3,400 
			  South East Total 186,500 
			   
			 Bath and North East Somerset 4,100 
			 Bournemouth 4,400 
			 Bristol City of 10,200 
			 Caradon 2,200 
			 Carrick 2,500 
			 Cheltenham 2,800 
			 Christchurch 1,100 
			 Cotswold 2,100 
			 East Devon 3,300 
			 East Dorset 1,900 
			 Exeter 2,900 
			 Forest of Dean 2,200 
			 Gloucester 2,900 
			 Isles of Stilly 100 
			 Kennet 1,800 
			 Kerrier 2,700 
			 Mendip 2,700 
			 Mid Devon 1,900 
			 North Cornwall 2,300 
			 North Devon 2,400 
			 North Dorset 1,500 
			 North Somerset 4,700 
			 North Wiltshire 3,000 
			 Penwith 1,900 
			 Plymouth 6,700 
			 Poole 3,300 
			 Purbeck 1,100 
			 Restormel 2,700 
			 Salisbury 2,800 
			 Sedgemoor 2,900 
			 South Gloucestershire 5,700 
			 South Hams 2,100 
			 South Somerset 4,000 
			 Stroud 2,700 
			 Swindon 4,400 
			 Taunton Deane 2,700 
			 Teignbridge 3,200 
			 Tewkesbury 1,900 
			 Torbay 3,700 
			 Torridge 1,700 
			 West Devon 1,400 
			 West Dorset 2,500 
			 West Somerset 1,000 
			 West Wiltshire 3,000 
			 Weymouth and Portland 1,700 
			  South West Total 128,900 
			   
			 Birmingham 26,500 
			 Bridgnorth 1,400 
			 Bromsgrove 2,100 
			 Cannock Chase 2,300 
			 Coventry 7,800 
			 Dudley 7,900 
			 East Staffordshire 2,900 
			 Herefordshire County of 5,000 
			 Lichfield 2,300 
			 Malvern Hills 1,900 
			 Newcastle under Lyme 3,300 
			 North Shropshire 1,600 
			 North Warwickshire 1,600 
			 Nuneaton and Bedworth 3,100 
			 Oswestry 1,100 
			 Redditch 1,900 
			 Rugby 2,200 
			 Sandwell 7,900 
			 Shrewsbury and Atcham 2,500 
			 Solihull 4,600 
			 South Shropshire 1,200 
			 South Staffordshire 2,500 
			 Stafford 3,100 
			 Staffordshire Moorlands 2,500 
			 Stoke on Trent 7,100 
			 Stratford on Avon 2,800 
			 Tamworth 1,800 
			 Telford and Wrekin 4,100 
			 Walsall 6,700 
			 Warwick 3,000 
			 Wolverhampton 6,600 
			 Worcester 2,400 
			 Wychavon 2,800 
			 Wyre Forest 2,500 
			  West Midlands Total 138,900 
			   
			 Barnsley 6,300 
			 Bradford 12,400 
			 Calderdale 5,400 
			 Craven 1,500 
			 Doncaster 8,000 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 8,500 
			 Hambleton 2,200 
			 Harrogate 3,800 
			 Kingston upon Hull City of 7,300 
			 Kirklees 10,700 
			 Leeds 19,300 
			 North East Lincolnshire 4,600 
			 North Lincolnshire 4,300 
			 Richmondshire 1,200 
			 Rotherham 6,700 
			 Ryedale 1,500 
			 Scarborough 3,100 
			 Selby 1,900 
			 Sheffield 13,900 
			 Wakefield 8,700 
			 York 4,600 
			  Yorks and Humber Total 13,600 
			   
			 Amber Valley 3,300 
			 Ashfield 3,200 
			 Bassetlaw 3,000 
			 Blaby 2,100 
			 Bolsover 2,100 
			 Boston 1,600 
			 Broxtowe 2,900 
			 Charnwood 3,800 
			 Chesterfield 2,800 
			 Corby 1,400 
			 Daventry 1,700 
			 Derby 6,100 
			 Derbyshire Dales 1,900 
			 East Lindsey 3,900 
			 East Northamptonshire 2,000 
			 Erewash 3,000 
			 Gedling 2,900 
			 Harborough 1,800 
			 High Peak 2,300 
			 Hinckley and Bosworth 2,500 
			 Kettering 2,200 
			 Leicester 7,500 
			 Lincoln 2,400 
			 Mansfield 2,800 
			 Melton 1,300 
			 Newark and Sherwood 2,900 
			 North East Derbyshire 2,500 
			 North Kesteven 2,500 
			 North West Leicestershire 2,300 
			 Northampton 5,000 
			 Nottingham 7,800 
			 Oadby and Wigston 1,300 
			 Rushcliffe 2,600 
			 Rutland 900 
			 South Derbyshire 2,100 
			 South Holland 2,200 
			 South Kesteven 3,300 
			 South Northamptonshire 1,900 
			 Wellingborough 1,900 
			 West Lindsey 2,300 
			  East Midlands Total 111,900 
			   
			 Babergh 2,200 
			 Basildon 4,000 
			 Bedford 3,600 
			 Braintree 3,200 
			 Breckland 3,300 
			 Brentwood 1,600 
			 Broadland 3,000 
			 Broxbourne 1,800 
			 Cambridge 2,400 
			 Castle Point 2,000 
			 Chelmsford 3,600 
			 Colchester 3,800 
			 Dacorum 3,000 
			 East Cambridgeshire 1,800 
			 East Hertfordshire 2,800 
			 Epping Forest 2,700 
			 Fenland 2,300 
			 Forest Heath 1,500 
			 Great Yarmouth 2,700 
			 Harlow 1,800 
			 Hertsmere 1,900 
			 Huntingdonshire 3,700 
			 Ipswich 3,300 
			 Kings Lynn and West Norfolk 3,900 
			 Luton 4,400 
			 Maldon 1,400 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 2,800 
			 Mid Suffolk 2,300 
			 North Hertfordshire 2,700 
			 North Norfolk 2,900 
			 Norwich 3,500 
			 Peterborough 4,100 
			 Rochford 1,800 
			 South Bedfordshire 2,500 
			 South Cambridgeshire 2,900 
			 South Norfolk 2,900 
			 Southend on Sea 4,400 
			 St Albans 2,700 
			 St Edmundsbury 2,500 
			 Stevenage 1,900 
			 Suffolk Coastal 3,100 
			 Tendring 3,900 
			 Three Rivers 1,700 
			 Thurrock 3,400 
			 Uttlesford 1,600 
			 Watford 1,600 
			 Waveney 3,300 
			 Welwyn Hatfield 2,100 
			  East England Total 131,9000 
			   
			 Barking and Dagenham 3,900 
			 Barnet 6,700 
			 Bexley 5,000 
			 Brent 5,300 
			 Bromley 6,700 
			 Camden 4,800 
			 City of London 200 
			 Croydon 7,700 
			 Ealing 6,100 
			 Enfield 6,000 
			 Greenwich 5,300 
			 Hackney 4,600 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 3,800 
			 Haringey 5,200 
			 Harrow 4,000 
			 Havering 5,000 
			 Hillingdon 4,800 
			 Hounslow 4,300 
			 Islington 4,200 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 4,100 
			 Kingston upon Thames 3,200 
			 Lambeth 6,100 
			 Lewisham 5,900 
			 Merton 4,200 
			 Newham 5,800 
			 Redbridge 5,200 
			 Richmond upon Thames 4,100 
			 Southwark 5,400 
			 Sutton 3,900 
			 Tower Hamlets 3,800 
			 Waltham Forest 5,300 
			 Wandsworth 5,900 
			 Westminster 5,600 
			  London Total 162,200 
			   
			 Alnwick 900 
			 Berwick upon Tweed 800 
			 Blyth Valley 2,200 
			 Castle Morpeth 1,200 
			 Chester le Street 1,500 
			 Darlington 2,800 
			 Derwentside 2,500 
			 Durham 2,200 
			 Easington 2,700 
			 Gateshead 5,600 
			 Hartlepool 2,600 
			 Middlesbrough 3,800 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 7,300 
			 North Tyneside 5,400 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 3,800 
			 Sedgefield 2,500 
			 South Tyneside 4,300 
			 Stockton on Tees 4,700 
			 Sunderland 7,700 
			 Teesdale 800 
			 Tynedale 1,600 
			 Wansbeck 1,800 
			 Wear Valley 1,900 
			  North East Total 70,400 
		
	
	Fuel poverty is not measured in terms of number of people who are fuel poor. The Government's long-term objective, as prefigured by s.1 of the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 is that, as far as reasonably practicable, by 22 November 2016, persons in England should not live in fuel poverty. The interim objective of the Fuel Poverty Strategy in England is that, so far as reasonably practicable, the Government would seek an end to fuel poverty for vulnerable households by 2010. The Government set no annual targets in respect of the 2016 and 2010 targets.

Developing Countries: Water

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to facilitate international support for the Global Framework for Action for water and sanitation in the next 12 months.

Michael Foster: The Global Framework for Action was announced by my hon. Friend the Minister of State (Mr. Thomas), on behalf of the UK and the Netherlands, at the partnership event on water and sanitation, during the United Nations High-Level Event on the millennium development goals in September 2008. Since then, a number of steps have been taken to promote the Global Framework for Action.
	DFID is now working closely with UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW), the Netherlands and others to refine the operational aspects of the Global Framework for Action. To this end, DFID is hosting a working meeting in May 2009 to address these issues in more detail and to help define a more detailed process for promoting and implementing the Global Framework for Action over the coming 12 months.

Departmental Furniture

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department's agencies spent on furniture in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The Department's expenditure on furniture and fittings can be found in Note 14 (Tangible Fixed Assets) to the Home Office Resource Accounts which are published annually. The latest published figures are for the year 2007-08 which can be found at the Department's website:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/resource-accounts-07-08
	The Stationery Office publication references for previous of the Resource Accounts for previous years are:
	Home Office Resource Accounts 2006/07 (HC 1006);
	Home Office Resource Accounts 2005/06 (HC 124);
	Home Office Resource Accounts 2004/05 (HC 826).
	The Home Office 2008-09 Resource Accounts will be available in July.
	The expenditure incurred by Criminal Records Bureau and Identity and Passport Service can be found in their published annual reports and accounts which can be obtained from the Stationery Office.

Vetting: Voluntary Work

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of the Independent Safeguarding Authority on trends in the levels of volunteering in sport; and if she will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: There is no reason to believe that the work of the ISA will have an adverse impact on volunteering. A single form will be available for applications to the new Vetting and Barring Scheme and for Criminal Records Bureau disclosures, and a single fee charged where applications are made at the same time. Applications will be free of charge to unpaid volunteers.
	The regulatory impact assessment for the Scheme indicated that there would be some additional cost to volunteer organisers arising from the processing of applications by CRB-registered or umbrella bodies, some of whom charge a fee, but this is mitigated by the availability of a free on-line check to employers and users of volunteers once an individual is registered with the scheme.
	Government recognise the vital role volunteers have in delivering sports activities. The Home Office, Department for Children Schools and Families and Department of Health have been working with stakeholders, including sports and voluntary sector bodies and the Department for Culture Media and Sport to ensure that their interests and concerns are reflected within the new scheme.
	Part of this work will include issuing sector specific guidance.

Apprentices

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many persons who completed apprenticeships were unemployed one year after the end of the apprenticeship in each of the last three years.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 8 May 2009
	An apprenticeship is a work-based programme and apprentices must have a job or a work placement as a condition of completing their apprenticeship framework. Many will already be in permanent employment prior to the end of their apprenticeship.
	Information on the immediate destinations of apprenticeships upon completion of their apprenticeship is not readily available. This type of information will in future be collected using the framework for excellence learner destination survey with the first results for all FE colleges and work based learning providers available in spring 2009. The survey will be conducted nine months after the end of the academic year and so will not relate exactly to 12 months after the completion of the apprenticeship.
	The Government are committed to rebuilding apprenticeships. Since 1997 we have witnessed a renaissance in Apprenticeships from a low point of 65,000 to a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007/08. Completion rates are also at a record high with 64 per cent. successfully completing an apprenticeshipup from 37 per cent. in 2004/05.

Train to Gain Programme

Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people in each constituency participated in training under the Train to Gain programme since the programme's inception.

Si�n Simon: I have placed a copy of a table, showing Train to Gain starts in each parliamentary constituency since the inception of Train to Gain in the House Libraries.

Banks: Ireland

James Brokenshire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has had discussions with representatives of the government of the Republic of Ireland on arrangements to protect deposits made by UK citizens with banks in the Republic of Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: Treasury Ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations and international partners. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Fiscal Policy

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Government plans to bring forward proposals for a second package of fiscal stimulus measures for the UK economy.

Ian Pearson: The Government have taken decisive action in response to the global economic crisis. The Budget in April announced targeted fiscal support for those most affected by the downturn and to ensure a sustained and sustainable recovery. These measures build on the fiscal stimulus announced in the PBR, along with the support provided by allowing the UK's relatively powerful automatic fiscal stabilisers to operate in full.

Interpal

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what requests he has made to the US administration for details of the evidence on the basis of which the US authorities designated Interpal as a global terrorist organisation in 2003.

Ian Pearson: The US Department of Treasury issued a press notice on 22 August 2003, explaining the reasons why the US authorities designated Interpal.
	HM Treasury officials are in ongoing discussions with their US counterparts how best we can work together to facilitate legitimate charitable work, while protecting against the abuse of charities by those involved in terrorist finance. As part of this dialogue, the Treasury has asked the US authorities to consider if any further information can be made available about the basis for Interpal's designation.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare's letters of 2 December 2008 and 27 February 2009 sent on behalf of his constituent, Mr Adrian Pritchard.

Ian Pearson: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.

Incapacity Benefit: Heart Diseases

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incapacity benefit claimants had a recorded diagnosis which was or included a heart condition in each of the last five years; and how much was paid in such benefits to such claimants in each of these years.

Jonathan R Shaw: Having a heart condition does not of itself confer entitlement to incapacity benefits. Until October 2008 the medical assessment of incapacity for work was the personal capability assessment. This assesses the effects of a person's condition on their ability to carry out a number of everyday activities relevant to work.
	The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Estimated incapacity benefits expenditure on claimants whose diagnosis includes heart condition (nominal terms) 
			million 
			 2003-04 363 
			 2004-05 338 
			 2005-06 317 
			 2006-07 296 
			 2007-08 279 
			  Notes: 1. Incapacity benefits includes incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance payable to working-aged adults. 2. Figures include incapacity related income support expenditure for incapacity benefit claimants. 3. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest  million. Estimates are based on information from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study land published DWP benefit expenditure tables. 4. DWP benefit expenditure tables can be accessed at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp 
		
	
	
		
			  Estimated incapacity benefits case loads of claimants whose diagnosis includes heart! condition (nominal terms) 
			   All 
			 August 2004 76,130 
			 August 2005 70,130 
			 August 2006 64,730 
			 August 2007 59,120 
			 August 2008 53,550 
			  Notes: 1. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, published by the World Health Organisation. 3. To qualify for incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance, claimants have to undertake a medical assessment of incapacity for work called the personal capability assessment. Therefore, the medical condition recorded on the claim form does not itself confer entitlement to benefit.  Source: DWP Longitudinal Study

Iran: Baha'i Faith

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of attacks on Baha'is in the Iranian town of Semnan on 25 February 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We have received a series of worrying reports regarding anti-Baha'i activities in Semnan, including looting, arbitrary arrests and the desecration of a Baha'i cemetery. In December 2008 agents of the Ministry Intelligence raided 20 Baha'i homes in the town, and on 25 February 2009 at least two of these homes were subsequently attacked with petrol bombs.
	We have expressed our concerns to the Iranian Government and called on Iran to put an end to the persecution of religious minorities and to respect and protect the right to freedom of religion and belief, as described in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a State Party.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many  (a) officials and  (b) experts have been sent to the Turks and Caicos Islands as part of his Department's Emergency State Building Team; what the duration of their stay is; and what remit the team has.

Gillian Merron: Two officials have been sent in succession, on a short-term basis, to the Turks and Caicos Islands to work at the Governor's Office.
	Two technical experts have been sent to the Turks and Caicos Islands for a period of 12-months. One is to oversee the disbursement of funds from the UK's 5 million contribution to the Turks and Caicos Islands' Disaster Recovery Plan. The other is to work with the Ministry of Finance in support of the Turks and Caicos Islands' Fiscal Stabilisation Plan.
	In light of the Commission of Inquiry's Final Report, which is due by 31 May 2009, the Government will need to give consideration to the provision of further experts.

Children: Databases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what matters remain to be resolved regarding unshielded duplicate records of shielded children on ContactPoint; who is responsible for resolving them; and what steps he is taking to achieve a resolution;
	(2)  how many and which local authorities did not meet the 13 March shielding policies deadline for ContactPoint.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 27 April 2009
	The information needed for ContactPoint comes from existing systems, national and local. This data will be refreshed and updated automatically from these systems on a regular basis. We have received core information from four national data sources and this is the data set that all LAs have been working on to shield records. Work has also begun on the first updated data load from these sources, to ensure records held on ContactPoint are as accurate and up-to-date as possible.
	We received a few reports of cases where updates from these sources may not be matching as expected. We took immediate action to investigate and initial indications are that matching is working correctly.
	However, as a transitional precautionary measure, we have paused the ongoing data update feed while we investigate the instances reported to us.
	This will minimise any risk to records that have been shielded.
	Data feed from national systems will re-commence once all local authority ContactPoint management teams have been given access to ContactPoint.
	DCSF continue to investigate the reports of duplicate records and will make changes as necessary.
	We are taking a prudent and incremental approach to ContactPoint delivery. Local authorities provided a progress update on their shielding activity 13 March, which included whether they had robust arrangements in place to deal with shielding requests on an ongoing basis. Two thirds of local authorities confirmed that they had completed the required shielding actions. These responses were sent in confidence and as part of the normal, ongoing discussion between the Departments and local authorities and as part of the implementation process.

GP Access

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that patients resident in border areas of England have access to a GP registered in England.

Ben Bradshaw: We are aware of a small number of cases where patients resident in England, registered with a general practitioner (GP) in Wales, have had difficulty switching to an English GP because they do not live within any English GP practice's boundaries.
	This was discussed with Gloucestershire NHS during a visit to the Forest of Dean last week and they will seek to resolve the case of the particular couple he has raised. They also intend surveying all Gloucestershire residents registered with GPs in Wales to measure how many might wish to change and will consider providing new GP services in the area covered.

Hospital Acquired Infection

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his latest estimate is of the number of people who  (a) acquired infections and  (b) died from infections acquired in hospital in the last 12 months.

Ben Bradshaw: Best available surveillance data show 3,208 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and 40,704 Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) reports in 2008 and 910 Glycopeptide resistant Enterococci reports in October 2006 to September 2007 and 418 surgical site infections in orthopaedic surgery in April 2007 to March 2008.
	In 2007, the Office for National Statistics recorded 460 deaths where MRSA and 4,056 deaths where Clostridium difficile was mentioned on the death certificate as the underlying cause.
	Latest figures show MRSA infections are down 38 per cent. on the same quarter in 2007, and C. difficile infections in patients over two-years-old are down 35 per cent. on the same quarter in 2007.

NHS Hospitals: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the performance of NHS hospital services in Bexley.

Ben Bradshaw: Annual assessment of performance is undertaken by the Care Quality Commission, formerly Healthcare Commission. Their last report was published in October 2008.
	The details for his local hospital and primary care trust are available on the new regulator the CQC's website
	www.cqc.org.uk
	and on NHS Choices
	www.nhs.uk.

Lyme Disease

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued on the treatment of borreliosis.

Dawn Primarolo: Clinical guidelines for the treatment of borreliosis, commonly known as Lyme disease, are provided to general practitioners and other physicians by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and published on the HPA's website at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAwebHPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1204031510081?p=1199451958599
	The treatment guidelines published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 2006(1) are included within the HPA's advice, together with published guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of neuroborreliosis(2,3).
	In addition, the HPA's Lyme Disease Reference Unit advises clinicians directly on treatment and patient referral as appropriate.
	 Source:
	(1) The Clinical Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Lyme Disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis and Babesiosis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Wormser GP, Dattwyler RJ, Shapiro ED, et al. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2006; 43: 1089-34. Available at:
	www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID/journal/issues/v43n9/40897/40897.html
	(2) Halperin JJ, Logigian EL, Finkel MF, Pearl RA. Practice parameters for the diagnosis of patients with nervous system Lyme borreliosis (Lyme disease). Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology 1996 46: 619-627.
	(3) Practice Parameter: Treatment of nervous system Lyme disease (an evidence-based review). Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. E-published ahead of print on 23 May 2007. Available at:
	www.neurology.org/cgi/rapidpdf/0l.wnl.0000265517 .66976.28vl

Swine Flu: Health Education

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to make swine influenza information distributed by the Government accessible to deaf people who use British Sign Language.

Dawn Primarolo: A British Sign Language version of the swine flu information leaflet will been available to download from the NHS Choices and Directgov websites from Thursday 14 May and by DVD from Wednesday 20 May.

Community Development

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which organisation was awarded the contract as the national partner for the Community Builders programme.

Sadiq Khan: The competition for the contract to act as national partner for the Community builders programme is still in progress. The Department is currently evaluating tenders and expects to make an announcement in June.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Local Government on 26 March 2009,  Official Report, column 473W, on council tax, what ideas were submitted to the Minister by the hon. Member for Southampton.

John Healey: The contents of letters from an individual Member to Communities and Local Government Ministers are treated as private; and, unless the sender specifies otherwise, are not released for public consumption.

Council Tax: Valuation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 12 March 2009,  Official Report, column 736W, on council tax: valuation, how many domestic dwellings in England were assigned the code CL26 in each year between 1997-98 and 2005-06.

John Healey: The number of properties in England reviewed and cleared with the notification code CL26 in each year between 1997-98 and 2005-06 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number 
			 1997-98 60,365 
			 1998-99 53,811 
			 1999-2000 50,844 
			 2000-01 39,010 
			 2001-02 27,724 
			 2002-03 31,002 
			 2003-04 36,652 
			 2004-05 29,928 
			 2005-06 31,147

Domestic Violence

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what contribution her Department has made to the cross-Government consultation, Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Children and to the development of Government policy in this area.

Sadiq Khan: Communities and Local Government has been positively engaged with work on, Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls on which the Home Office is leading, since it commenced last year. During the development of the consultation document, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government wrote to the Home Secretary to affirm her support for this important agenda particularly through work on the domestic violence agenda, the Supporting People programme and through the domestic violence virtual unit. The Department's officials have actively supported the cross-government working group that has shaped and developed the current consultation document.

Economic Situation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 2 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 1498-502W, on departmental conferences, if she will place in the Library a copy of the presentations and handouts produced for the Regeneration in Recession seminar on 18 February 2009.

Sadiq Khan: Henry Overman and Ian Gordon of the Spatial Economics Research Centre, London School of Economics, presented their views at the Regeneration in Recession seminar on 18 February 2009. External stakeholders are responsible for their own presentations and handouts.

Energy Performance Certificates

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 5 May 2009,  Official Report, column 128W, on energy performance certificates, how many fixed penalties have been imposed on landlords in each month since the provisions of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive took effect in England.

Iain Wright: Penalty notices are issued by local weights and measures authorities who are empowered to enforce the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) England and Wales) Regulations 2007. There is no requirement for the Department to be informed when a penalty charge notice is issued.

EU Grants and Loans

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 12 March 2009,  Official Report, column 740W, on the European Commission: financial corrections, what the monetary value is of the provision made for further financial corrections relating to audits carried out on the 1997 to 1999 round of structural fund programmes.

John Healey: The provision made for further financial corrections relating to audits carried out on the 1997 to 1999 round of structural fund programmes was 25.7 million, as stated in paragraph 1.20.7 of the Department's 2007-08 resource accounts.

Fire Services

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to give fire authorities the power to promote well-being.

Sadiq Khan: The power to promote well being is available to local authorities as defined in Section 1 of the Local Government Act 2000 (LGA 2000). That includes those county councils which are also fire and rescue authorities (FRAs).
	The possible extension of the power to promote well being contained within Section 2 of LGA 2000 to all FRAs was considered at the request of consultees in 2003 prior to the introduction of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004.
	The power to promote well being is intended to reflect the unique community leadership role of local authorities and consequently it has not been extended to any other form of authority with responsibility for delivery of public services. For this reason, and because we believe the powers available to FRAs are sufficient to enable them to undertake any activities required to fulfil the duties and responsibilities placed on them by legislation and the national framework for the fire and rescue service, it was not considered appropriate to amend the scope of this power more widely.

Freedom of Information

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 17 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1106W, on freedom of information, 
	(1)  if she will place in the Library a copy of the substantive reply given to Freedom of Information Act 2000 request reference: F0002744, on the Church of Scientology, redacting the name and address of the recipient;
	(2)  if she will place in the Library a copy of the substantive reply given to Freedom of Information Act 2000 request reference: F0002977, on all communications between Lord Taylor of Blackburn and Ministers and senior civil servants at the Department about plans by Canatxx to build a gas storage facility at Preesall from 2005 up to the present date, redacting the name and address of the recipient;
	(3)  if she will place in the Library a copy of the substantive reply given to Freedom of Information Act 2000 request reference: F0002967, on organisations or projects that have received funding to date on the Preventing Extremism Together Initiative, redacting the name and address of the recipient.

Sadiq Khan: I have today placed copies of the responses to these three Freedom of Information requests in the House Library.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the Right to Acquire discount limit for each local authority is;
	(2)  what discount was available to tenants under the Right to Acquire scheme in each local authority area in each year since 1997.

Iain Wright: The discount available to tenants under the right to acquire scheme in each local authority area is set out in The Housing (Right to Acquire) (Discount) Order 2002 (Statutory Instrument 2002 No 1091). This is available on the website of the Office of Public Sector Administration:
	http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/uksi_20021091_en.pdf
	Between 1997, when the right to acquire scheme was introduced, and 2002, the available discounts were specified annually in the following statutory instruments:
	The Housing (Right to Acquire) (Discount) Order 1998 (SI 1998/2014)
	The Housing (Right to Acquire) (Discount) Order 1999 (SI 1999/1135)
	The Housing (Right to Acquire) (Discount) (Amendment) Order 1999 (SI 1999/3028)
	The Housing (Right to Acquire) (Discount) Order 2000 (SI 2000/1622)
	The Housing (Right to Acquire) (Discount) Order 2001 (SI 2001/1501)
	These are also available on the website of the Office of Public Sector Administration:
	http://search.opsi.gov.uk/search?client=semaphore_front endbtnG=Searchsite=SIoutput=xml_no_dtdproxystylesheet =opsisearch_semaphoreie=UTF8oe=UTF8as_q=right%20to% 20acquire%20discountas_ft=ias_occt=any

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much her Department and its predecessors received in Right to Buy clawbacks in each year since 1997;
	(2)  over what period a former social tenant is liable for clawback under the Right to Buy scheme.

Iain Wright: Under section 155 of the Housing Act 1985, social landlords which have sold properties under the right to buy scheme may require former social tenants who have bought properties and choose to dispose of them within five years of the right to buy sale to repay all or part of the discount they received.
	The decision on whether to require repayment rests solely with the landlord. Neither the Department for Communities and Local Government nor any of its predecessor Departments have received any funds as a result of social landlords deciding to require former tenants to repay right to buy discount.

Local Government Finance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 6 November 2008,  Official Report, column 654W, on domestic waste, what estimate she has made of the effect on the level of performance award grant allocated to local authorities which have been set local area agreement targets in relation to national indicator 191 on residual household waste of such local authorities not meeting those targets.

John Healey: The level of performance reward grant payable will be determined by the average level of performance achieved across all designated targets in the Local Area Agreement, subject to a minimum threshold of 60 per cent. At this stage it is not possible to determine the precise impact on the level of reward payable of a local authority not meeting targets based upon national indicator 191. The impact will be dependant upon how far short of the target an area's performance on NI 191 has actually fallen at the end of the LAA, how many designated targets were included in the LAA and the level of performance achieved across the other relevant targets.
	Detailed guidance on the reward model has been published at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/1148974.pdf

Local Government: Elections

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's policy is on single member wards in local government.

John Healey: The 2006 Local Government White PaperStrong and prosperous communitiesstated that single-member wards offer benefits including providing a simple, strong link between the councillor and their electorate, and giving clarity of leadership to the area, while accepting that there is no consensus on this.
	We have therefore provided a permissive approach in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 that any principal council who holds whole council elections can request that the Electoral Commission directs the Boundary Committee to undertake a review for the purpose of re-warding the area with single member wards.

Local Government: Equal Pay

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the likely effects on local authorities of the ruling of the Court of Appeal in the case of Joyce Slack and others  v . Cumbria county council in relation to equal pay claims in the public sector.

John Healey: Local authorities, in their capacity as employers, are considering the potential implications of the recent court of appeal judgment in Joyce Slack and Ors and Cumbria county council.
	Communities and Local Government continues to monitor the implications of this and similar judgements with the local Government employers organisation.

Local Government: Greater Manchester

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers the city region pilots will have.

John Healey: Work to identify and agree priorities between the Government and Leeds and Greater Manchester will draw on recent work from the Manchester Independent Economic Review and on innovation in the Leeds city-region. Proposals will include new strategy-setting powers over adult skills funding, expected to be in place within three to six months, new joint investment boards with regional development agencies, the Homes and Communities Agency and other partners to co-ordinate and align investment and the piloting of new employment programmes. Further details will be announced in the summer.

Maps: EU Law

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Valuation Office Agency is taking to comply with the UN INSPIRE Directive.

John Healey: The Inspire Directive has limited direct application to the Valuation Office Agency. However, the Agency keeps itself informed about the application of the directive and has had dealings with bodies concerned with the directive, including the UK location council.

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will use her powers under the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 to reintroduce the pre-April 2008 regime of empty property business rate relief.

John Healey: In the 2008 pre-Budget-report, the Government announced a temporary measure for the 2009-10 business rates year, raising the threshold at which rates on empty property become liable from 2,200 to 15,000. 70 per cent. of properties have a rateable value below 15,000, and if empty, will benefit from this measure.
	The Government have no current plans to make further changes to empty property rate relief introduced from 1 April 2008. However, as with all taxes, we will keep the position under review. Decisions on taxes are a matter for the Chancellor.

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 23 April 2009,  Official Report, column 889W, on Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, which public body made each of the 29 bookings; what the date and purpose of each booking was; what rooms were hired on each occasion; and what the aggregate revenue to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre was from those bookings.

Iain Wright: This is an operational matter for the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and I have asked the chief executive of the Agency to respond to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Ernest Vincent, dated 12 May 2009:
	Your Parliamentary question asking the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 889W, on Queen Elizabeth II (QE2) Conference Centre, if she will list the public bodies that made each of the 29 bookings; what was the date and purpose of each booking; what rooms were hired on each occasion; and what was the aggregate revenue to the QE2 Conference Centre from those bookings has been passed to me for reply.
	The information you request is listed below and the aggregate revenue from these bookings has been calculated as 766,320.00:
	
		
			   Public bodies  Rooms 
			 22 April 2008 Scheme 2009: Identity Cards for Airport Workers (Identity and Passport Service) Churchill Auditorium and Pickwick Suite 
			 28 April 2008 OSC Info Sharing Day (Department for Children, Schools and Families) Mountbatten Room, Mountbatten Lounge, Keats Room, Robert Burns Room, Shelley Room and Wordsworth Room 
			 19 May 2008 National Pandemic Influenza Workshop (Cabinet Office) Westminster Suite, St. James's Suite, Chaucer Room, Keats Room, Robert Burns Room, Shelley Room, Wesley Room, Wordsworth Room 
			 28 May 2008 Making the Difference: Equality, Diversity and the Fire and Rescue Service (Department for Communities and Local Government) Mountbatten Room and Mountbatten Lounge 
			 11 June 2008 Trust Schools Conference 2008 (Department for Children, Schools and Families) Mountbatten Room and Mountbatten Lounge, Crown Room, Sovereign Room, Wesley Room, Wordsworth Room 
			 15-20 June 2008 Financial Action Taskforce Conference (HM Treasury) Fleming Room, Benjamin Britten Lounge, Guild Room, Caxton West, Chaucer Room, Whittle Room, Churchill Auditorium, Crown Room 
			 26 June 2008 MoJ IT Profession (Ministry of Justice) Mountbatten Room and Mountbatten Lounge, Abbey Room, Elizabeth Windsor Room, Henry Moore Room, Rutherford Room, St. James's Suite, Westminster Suite 
			 2 July 2008 Healthcare for London Stakeholder Event (NHS London) Mountbatten Room and Mountbatten Lounge 
			 16 July 2008 NHS Press Conference (NHS London) Fleming Room and Benjamin Britten Lounge 
			 23 September 2008 SCS Forum (Department of Health) Churchill Auditorium and Pickwick Suite 
			 29 September 2008 D C  L Away Day: Making Connections (Ministry of Justice) Fleming Room and Benjamin Britten Lounge, Whittle Rooms 
			 8 October 2008 NHS Consultants Contract Conference (NHS Employers) Churchill Auditorium and Pickwick Suite, Abbey Room, Elizabeth Windsor Room, Henry Moore Room, Rutherford Room, St. James's Suite 
			 9 October 2008 REACH Role Model Sift Event (Department for Communities and Local Government) Henry Moore Room and Rutherford Room 
			 9 October 2008 Celebrating Success 2008 (Department for Children, Schools and Families) Churchill Auditorium and Pickwick Suite 
			 22 October 2008 DCLG: Collaborative Procurement Forum (Department for Communities and Local Government) Henry Moore Room and Rutherford Room 
			 31 October 2008 Skills for Life Conference 2008Building on Success: Meeting New Challenges (Department for Children, Schools and Families) Fleming Room and Benjamin Britten Lounge, Abbey Room, Byron Room, Chaucer Room, Crown Room, Elizabeth Windsor Room, Guild Room, Henry Moore Room, Keats Room, Robert Burns Room, Rutherford Room, Shelley Room, Sovereign, St. James's Suite, Wesley Room, Westminster Suite, Whittle Room, Wordsworth Room 
			 17 November 2008 Above and Beyond (The British Council) Mountbatten Room and Mountbatten Lounge, Abbey Room, Byron Room, Elizabeth Windsor Room, Henry Moore Room, Rutherford Room, St. James's Suite, Wesley Room, Westminster Suite 
			 7-8 December 2008 NHS Chief Executives Video Conference (Department of Health) Mountbatten Room and Mountbatten Lounge 
			 9 December 2008 PREVENT 08 (Department for Communities and Local Government) Fleming and Whittle Rooms and Benjamin Britten Lounge, Abbey Room, Byron Room, Caxton Lounge, Chaucer Room, Elizabeth Windsor Room, Guild Room, Henry Moore Room, Keats Room, Robert Burns Room, Rutherford Room, Shelley Room, Sovereign Room, St. James's Suite, Wesley Room, Westminster Suite, Wordsworth Room 
			 22 January 2009 GEO SSG Meeting (Government Equalities Office) Henry Moore Room 
			 28 January 2009 UKBA Senior Manager's Event (Home Office) Fleming Room and Benjamin Britten Lounge, Crown Room, Guild Room 
			 5 February 2009 Local Involvement Networks (Links) 'Getting Better Together Conference' (Department of Health) Fleming and Benjamin Britten Lounge, Abbey Room, Henry Moore Room, Rutherford Room, St. James's Suite, Wesley Room 
			 9 February 2009 UK Border Agency: Assisted Voluntary Returns Seminar (Home Office) Mountbatten Room and Mountbatten Lounge, Wesley Room, Wordsworth Room 
			 10 February 2009 HPV Implementation Immunisation Programme National Conference (Department of Health) Mountbatten Room and Mountbatten Lounge 
			 26 February 2009 Information about Children, Education and Schools Conference (Department for Children, Schools and Families) Fleming Room and Benjamin Britten Lounge, Abbey Room, Henry Moore Room, Rutherford Room 
			 20 March 2009 RC (S) Senior Officials Meeting (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) Whittle Room and Caxton Lounge 
			 23-24 March 2009 FCO Leadership Conference 2009 (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) Fleming Room and Benjamin Britten Lounge, Caxton Lounge, St. James's Suite, Westminster Suite, Whittle Room, Fleet Room, Guild Room 
			 24 March 2009 Home Office Senior Civil Service Conference (Home Office) Churchill Auditorium and Pickwick Suite, Sovereign Room 
			 20 March 2009 Care Quality Commission 'Kick Off Event (COI) Churchill Auditorium and Pickwick Suite, Abbey Room, Henry Moore Room, Shelley Room, St. James's Suite, Westminster Suite 
		
	
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2009,  Official Report, column 889W, on the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, what the title was of each conference held at the centre by central government departments was; which department sponsored each event; and how much was charged for each event.

Iain Wright: This is an operational matter for the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and I have asked the chief executive of the agency to write to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Ernest Vincent, dated 12 May 2009:
	Your Parliamentary question asking the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2009, Official Report, column 889W, on Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, what the title of each conference held at the centre by central government department was; which Department sponsored each event; and how much was charged for each event has been passed to me for reply.
	As has been stated in the reply to the Answer of 23 April 2009, the policy of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre is not to offer discounted rates. Complimentary room hire is offered on very rare occasions and only with my authorisation. There also must be good reason to do so. The meetings below were, bar one, charged at the standard list price. The amounts below are exclusive of VAT.
	
		
			  Date  Conference  Department  Cost () 
			 22 April 2008 Scheme 2009: Identity Cards for Airport Workers Identity and Passport Service 10,230.00 
			 28 April 2008 OSC Info Sharing Day Department for Children, Schools and Families 12,502.50 
			 19 May 2008 National Pandemic Influenza Workshop Cabinet Office 7,345.00 
			 28 May 2008 Making the Difference: Equality, Diversity and the Fire and Rescue Service Department for Communities and Local Government 7,485.00 
			 11 June 2008 Trust Schools Conference 2008 Department for Children, Schools and Families 9,505.00 
			 15-20 June 2008 Financial Action Taskforce Conference HM Treasury 84,485.00 
			 26 June 2008 MoJ IT Profession Ministry of Justice 15,020.00 
			 2 July 2008 Healthcare for London Stakeholder Event NHS London 8,685.00 
			 16 July 2008 NHS Press Conference NHS London 13,545.00 
			 23 September 2008 SCS Forum Department of Health 9,645.00 
			 29 September 2008 D C  L Away Day: Making Connections Ministry of Justice 17,815.00 
			 8 October 2008 NHS Consultants Contract Conference NHS Employers 15,788.50 
			 9 October 2008 REACH Role Model Sift Event Department for Communities and Local Government 2,090.00 
			 9 October 2008 Celebrating Success 2008 Department for Children, Schools and Families 11,805.00 
			 22 October 2008 DCLG: Collaborative Procurement Forum Department for Communities and Local Government Chief Executive's invitation to DCLG colleagues to use QEII Conference Centre for a discussion about collaborative procurement 
			 31 October 2008 Skills for Life Conference 2008 Department for Children, Schools and Families 30,815.00 
			 17 November 2008 Above and Beyond The British Council 16,616.00 
			 7 December 2008 NHS Chief Executives Video Conference Department of Health 12,930.00 
			 9 December 2008 PREVENT 08 Department for Communities and Local Government 30,710.00 
			 22 January 2009 GEO SSG Meeting Government Equalities Office 1,005.00 
			 28 January 2009 UKBA Senior Manager's Event Home Office 12,775.00 
			 5 February 2009 Local Involvement Networks (Links) 'Getting Better Together Conference' Department of Health 15,740.00 
			 9 February 2009 UK Border Agency: Assisted Voluntary Returns Seminar Home Office 8,745.00 
			 10 February 2009 HPV Implementation Immunisation Programme National Conference Department of Health 6,885.00 
			 26 February 2009 Information about Children, Education and Schools Conference Department for Children, Schools and Families 16,335.00 
			 20 March 2009 RC (S) Senior Officials Meeting Foreign  Commonwealth Office 7,515.00 
			 23-24 March 2009 FCO Leadership Conference 2009 Foreign  Commonwealth Office 43,700.00 
			 24 March 09 Home Office Senior Civil Service Conference Home Office 9,850.00 
			 19-21 April 2009 Care Quality Commission 'Kick Off' Event COI 45,447.50 
		
	
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Unitary Councils

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's latest estimate is of the cost of unitary restructuring in the areas which have new unitary councils.

John Healey: When seeking parliamentary approval to the nine new unitary councils, we estimated transitional restructuring costs of around 138 million, with total annual savings of at least 100 million. Our latest estimates, following a stocktake exercise we with the support of independent financial experts have undertaken prior to 1 April 2009, are for the restructuring costs to be around 135 million, slightly less than the original estimate.

Cabinet: Glasgow

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many  (a) special advisers and  (b) officials of his Department accompanied him to Glasgow for the Cabinet meeting on 16 April 2009;
	(2)  what car journeys he undertook in attending the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009;
	(3)  how much expenditure was incurred by his Department in respect of the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009;
	(4)  what expenditure on  (a) travel,  (b) accommodation and  (c) food (i) he and (ii) officials in his Department incurred in connection with the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009.

Jack Straw: I was not accompanied by officials or by special advisers when I attended the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009.
	I travelled by car between Ambleside, Cumbria and Oxenholme station and between Glasgow Central station and the venue for the Cabinet meeting.
	132 was incurred for my return travel by train from Oxenholme Station to Glasgow Central station. My transport by car to and from Oxenholme Station and between Glasgow Central station and the Cabinet venue was provided by the Metropolitan police, the cost of which is a matter for them.
	There was no departmental expenditure on accommodation or food and no officials from the Ministry of Justice attended the meeting.

Children: Protection

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take steps to encourage local authorities to issue children protection proceedings.

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
	Local authorities have a clear statutory duty under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 to investigate where they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. And where as a result of that investigation they conclude they should take action to safeguard and promote the child's welfare by for example applying for a care order, they must take that action. It is for individual authorities to decide when to initiate care proceedings under section 31 of Children Act 1989 when a child is at risk in their own home.

Departmental ICT

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he has taken to reduce the level of carbon dioxide emissions arising from the operation of ICT systems in his Department under the Greening Government ICT Strategy.

Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice is committed to reducing its carbon emissions in accordance with the campaign initiated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Activities and the Greening Government ICT Strategy. The MOJ recognises that reducing its ICT carbon emissions is not just about technology but also about embedding sustainability in its process and behaviour as well.
	The MOJ has worked to implement the appropriate 'Areas for ICT Carbon Reduction' in the Greening Government ICT Strategy improving the sustainability of its printing, the energy efficiency of its desktop PCs and data centres.
	The MOJ has built sustainable IT principles into its IT policy and consideration of sustainability forms part of process of evaluation of changes to the IT estate. The MOJ is working with its suppliers to improve the energy efficiency of IT operations both in its outsourced data centres and at its own sites. It has employed third party expertise to analyse the sustainability of IT operations managed by a sample of the MOJ's key suppliers and advise on how best to realise improvements. This work has already led to increased data centre energy efficiency, and work on the centralisation of data processing will further reduce server energy consumption without negative affect on the volume or efficiency of data processing carried out. The convergence of formerly separate networks offers better sharing of IT resources for staff and the reduction of the overall number of devices we need to deliver the same level of service.
	The MOJ has also used initiatives to realise the positive impact that ICT can have on the overall carbon emissions of its operations. It continues to invest in video-conferencing and teleconferencing technology to reduce emissions. The imminent upgrade of desktop PCs will offer not just improved power management to reduce energy consumption but also roaming profiles allowing any users to log on to any machine helping support MOJ estates' goal of 80 per cent. desking and a reduction in the overall size of the MOJ HQ estate.
	MOJ is also working on staff awareness of green IT issues. Campaigns have been run encouraging the shut down of electrical items outside of office hours, the reduction of printing and paper consumption and the better use of video-conferencing and teleconferencing to reduce travel.

Elections: Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many successful prosecutions there were for offences of electoral fraud arising from elections held in 2008.

Michael Wills: The report recently published by the Electoral Commission and the Association of Chief Police Officers entitled Allegations of electoral malpractice at the May 2008 elections in England and Wales found that the police had recorded 103 cases of electoral malpractice at those elections. 81 per cent. of the cases required no further action by the police. One case has led to a prosecution, which resulted in a conviction of one person on a charge of making a false application to vote by proxy. Nine cases resulted in formal cautions which may lead to criminal records, with 12 cases under investigation or awaiting advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.
	These figures must be seen in the context of over 16 million votes cast at the local elections in England and Wales in May 2008 in nearly 4,000 separate elections involving over 13,500 candidates.
	The report is consistent with earlier findings that the scale and volume of allegations of fraud at recent elections have been decreasing.

Legal Profession: Chinese Community

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what criteria are applied to the selection of applicants to participate in the Lord Chancellor's Training scheme for young Chinese Lawyers; and if he will consider the merits of increasing the number of places available under the scheme each year.

Michael Wills: Applicants to the Lord Chancellor's Training scheme for young Chinese Lawyers must:
	be Chinese nationals aged between 25 and 40 on the application closing date;
	be graduates of law who have passed the national lawyers' examination in China and have at least two years' post-qualification experience in a law firm in China;
	have excellent written and oral English demonstrated by an overall score of 6.5 or over in the International English Language Testing System test (IELTS), ideally with a score of 6.0 or over in every test;
	have specialist experience in one or more areas of legal practice of significance to China's development as a market economy and have strong personal motivation and an ability to adapt to different environments.
	From past experience it has also been found desirable that the 15 successful lawyers:
	represent a gender balance between males and females;
	represent a wide variety of Chinese regions;
	be working for Chinese law firms;
	be experienced in commercial areas of law;
	have a strong interest in and perhaps some experience in international work;
	be willing and keen to contribute to the development of the Chinese Justice system upon their return;
	have excellent communication skills;
	be highly motivated to learn, have a positive attitude, and be an excellent team player; and
	be capable of resolving ethical dilemmas.
	The Ministry of Justice has committed to fund the scheme until 2011. We will review the scheme in due course, using a set of criteria which is likely to focus on value for money, impact, achievements, and fit with our departmental strategic objectives. We will also need to consider the public sector's fiscal restraints at that time. I am sure you will appreciate therefore that I cannot comment on the merits of increasing the number of places available until the review has been concluded.

Life Imprisonment

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners serving whole life tariffs are held in each Category A prison.

David Hanson: The break-down for prisoners on whole life tariffs in high security prisons is as follows:
	
		
			  High security prison  Number of prisoners 
			 Belmarsh 0 
			 Frankland 8 
			 Full Sutton 5 
			 Long Lartin (1)Less than 5 
			 Manchester 0 
			 Wakefield 11 
			 Whitemoor (1)Less than 5 
			 Woodhill 0 
			 (1 )We have withheld exact numbers because to provide the information at this level could identify individuals.

Life Imprisonment: Females

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many female prisoners are serving life sentences with a whole life tariff.

David Hanson: There is less than five(1) female prisoners currently serving a life sentence with a whole life tariff.
	(1 )We have withheld exact numbers because to provide the information at this level could identify individuals.

Life Imprisonment: Mentally Disturbed Offenders

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners sentenced to whole life tariffs are held in secure NHS premises.

David Hanson: Less than five(1) prisoners sentenced to whole life tariffs are currently detained in secure hospitals.
	(1 )We have withheld exact numbers because to provide the information at this level could identify individuals.

National Offender Management Service

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff  (a) employed in and  (b) seconded to the Interventions and Substance Abuse Group of the National Offender Management Service have previously worked for (i) the Probation Service and (ii) the Prison Service.

David Hanson: Of staff currently in post in the National Offender Management Service's Interventions and Substance Misuse Group (ISMG):
	(i) 15 have a national probation service background;
	(ii) 125 have a HM Prison Service background; and
	(iii) Seven have previously worked in both HM Prison Service and the national probation service.
	Nine current ISMG staff are seconded from the national probation service.

Prison Sentences

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) men and  (b) women aged (i) under 18 years, (ii) 18 to 20 years and (iii) 21 years and over were serving indeterminate sentences for public protection on the latest date for which figures are available.

David Hanson: The following table gives the numbers of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection on 24 April 2009. The table includes those subject to imprisonment for public protection (IPP) and young prisoners subject to detention for public protection (DPP). The table also includes the 104 offenders of this type who are located in a secure psychiatric hospital.
	
		
			  Serving IPPs and DPPs on 24 April 2009 
			  Age range  (a) Men  (b) Women  Subtotals 
			 (i) Under 18 years 35 (1)Less than 5 36 
			 (ii) 18 to 20 years 370 (1)Less than 5 372 
			 (iii) 21 years and over 4,696 142 4,838 
			 Total   5,246 
			 (1 )We have withheld exact numbers because to provide the information at this level could identify individuals. 
		
	
	These figures were drawn from the NOMS IPP database. The database is updated every other month, based on data provided by establishments. As with any large scale recording system, the database is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	Changes introduced by the CJIA 2008 included a minimum tariff of two years below which IPPs cannot be given, except where offenders have committed extremely serious crimes in the past.
	These changes will ensure better use of the all the sentences available to the courts.
	In January 2008, a new streamlined process was introduced for assessing and managing IPP offenders through the implementation of offender management for IPPs. The new process will ensure that appropriate sentence plans are drawn up and implemented for offenders, without undermining public protection.

Prison Sentences: Swine Flu

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  whether he has made an assessment of the potential effects of the outbreak of swine influenza on  (a) levels of sentencing to custody by magistrates courts and Crown courts and  (b) the safe management of adult prisons, young offender institutions and secure training centres;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of the outbreak of swine influenza on the provision of healthcare in  (a) adult prisons,  (b) young offender institutions and  (c) secure training centres.

Jack Straw: Contingency planning for coping with the effects of a flu pandemic on the justice system including prisons and places of detention, has been underway for several years. Sentencing will continue to be a matter for judges taking account of individual circumstances and sentencing guidelines.
	Protecting the public and ensuring the smooth running of the justice system is paramount and every effort would be made to ensure those who pose a risk continue to be appropriately dealt with.
	In 2006, all prisons were instructed, through Prison Service Instruction PSI (29/2006), to develop contingencies plans in the event of pandemic influenza. Prison senior clinical staff were to be involved at all stages of planning. The plans were to be signed off as fit for purpose by area managers. The governor was required to establish links with the local health protection unit (HPU) and the primary care trust (PCT) to finalise arrangements for antiviral access and infection control management, and to adapt local community policies to a prison setting.
	At the outset of this swine flu outbreak governing governors were reminded to review these plans and ensure they are up to date and capable of being acted on if the situation calls for it. This is to be done in consultation with local primary care trusts and in line with the current PSI.
	A revised version of the Prison Service Instruction is currently in draft. It provides further advice on key areas including infection control, UK pandemic phases, detail on key issues to be covered in contingency plans including supply lines and participation in local resilience fora, along with advice on human resources matters.

Prisons: Education

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on prisoner re-education in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

David Hanson: In terms of money spent on education and training in prisons for those two years, 156 million was spent in financial year 2006-07 and 168 million was spent in financial year 2007-08, funded from the Department of Innovation Universities and Skills via provider contracts commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council. Spending on offender learning, commissioned by the Learning Skills Council, now stands at over 175 million (2008-09 financial year), for juvenile, young and adult offendersalmost a threefold increase since 2001.
	The Learning and Skills Council also spent a further 30 million in European Social Funding for the two calendar years 2006 and 2007, and established a 13.9 million budget from EQUAL funding for the period December 2006 to March 2008 to meet additional provision for offenders both in custody and in the community.
	In addition training for prisoners is undertaken, mainly by Prison Service staff, whilst prisoners work or are engaged in various areas such as prison industries, catering, physical education, land based activities, industrial cleaning and laundries. The central costs of the training elements of these, mainly production functions, are not kept centrally.

Afghanistan and Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK service personnel serving in  (a) Afghanistan and  (b) Iraq are residents of (i) Northern Ireland and (ii) the Republic of Ireland.

Bob Ainsworth: Data on the residential location of armed forces personnel is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Afghanistan: Reconstruction

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will bring forward plans to improve liaison between his Department and the Department for International Development on reconstruction in Afghanistan.

John Hutton: holding answer 8 May 2009
	Ministers and Officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Department of International Development (DFID), and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) meet regularly to discuss the UK's policy in Afghanistan. This cooperation is replicated on the ground by the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team which integrates the efforts of DFID, the FCO and the military Task Force Commander, with international partners, in a comprehensive approach to security, reconstruction and development.

Armed Forces: Coroners

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the outcome of his Department's challenge was to the inquest verdict in the case of Ronald Georg Maddison which the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State announced in the written ministerial statement of 21 December 2004,  Official Report, column 168WS; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: The Judicial Review was scheduled to take place on 13 February 2006 in the High Court. However before the hearing was due to commence, Counsel representing the Maddison family offered a possible resolution of the issues to be addressed, which the Ministry of Defence found acceptable. The presiding judges, set to hear the Judicial Review, endorsed the terms of the agreement. This therefore concluded matters.

Armed Forces: Resignations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the voluntary outflow rate from each  (a) service and  (b) rank of the armed forces was in each of the last three years.

Kevan Jones: The voluntary outflow rates of officers and of other ranks from each service are published in tables 3-8 of Tri-Service Publication 05 (TSP05). TSP05 is published monthly; the current March 2009 publication includes time series back to 1998-99 and can be found at:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index.php?page=48thiscontent=60date=2009-04-20pubType=lPublishTime=09:30:00from=hometabOption=l
	Voluntary outflow rates for each rank have not been compiled and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Copies of TSP 05 are also available from the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Training

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were enrolled in an officer training corps course at each university in each year since 1997.

Kevan Jones: The following table illustrates the numbers commencing training at University Officer Training Corps in each year since 1997.
	
		
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Aberdeen 65 72 51 67 80 49 53 82 64 82 65 45 
			 Birmingham 78 66 69 103 75 46 87 82 78 100 98 64 
			 Bristol 73 77 82 74 83 72 86 87 64 83 79 50 
			 Cambridge 98 95 102 66 82 107 84 72 91 81 78 53 
			 East Midlands 93 72 75 97 83 91 76 80 94 88 70 41 
			 Edinburgh 92 67 50 51 82 82 63 91 71 85 100 68 
			 Exeter 88 76 86 78 80 80 122 83 102 92 77 53 
			 Glasgow 58 49 65 62 60 93 73 62 62 78 62 48 
			 Leeds 74 71 60 66 94 97 114 115 82 110 87 72 
			 Liverpool 83 79 73 87 85 83 98 91 89 88 76 49 
			 London 161 156 152 193 201 181 183 141 173 162 200 154 
			 Manchester 78 79 72 85 75 75 73 76 81 106 75 38 
			 Northumbria 70 67 66 75 84 97 88 91 73 78 86 52 
			 Oxford 84 98 81 80 78 105 102 110 131 117 101 94 
			 Queen's (Northern Ireland) 95 61 67 79 63 62 50 38 44 80 46 43 
			 Sheffield 85 96 83 112 98 77 139 104 83 93 117 63 
			 Southampton 81 60 63 110 107 103 113 105 93 117 86 45 
			 Tayforth 76 62 52 115 100 89 125 98 100 113 80 73 
			 Wales 86 85 106 93 98 93 101 119 104 114 98 62

Clyde Submarine Base

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what  (a) procedures and  (b) protocols will apply to the discharge of radioactive coolant from submarines at the new Astute jetty.

Quentin Davies: The procedures and protocols for the discharge of radioactive coolant from submarines at the new Astute jetty will be similar to those in place for current berths. Primary Effluent Tanks will be used for the discharge of radioactive liquid effluent, a process that is regulated and inspected by both the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator.

Defence: Employment

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people in  (a) Devon and  (b) Cornwall are employed in the defence sector.

Kevan Jones: The latest available figures for the numbers of MOD civilian and service personnel who are directly employed at MOD establishments or bases located in Devon, Cornwall and the unitary authority of Plymouth are provided in the following table.
	
		
			   All MOD service personnel  MOD civilian personnel  Total 
			 South West 38,880 17,600 56,480 
			  Of which:
			 Plymouth 7,380 1,200 8,580 
			 Devon 4,120 410 4,530 
			 Cornwall 3,650 630 4,280 
		
	
	The Ministry of Defence does not produce estimates at County or Unitary Authority level for the number of people employed in UK industry and commerce in companies that receive contracts directly from MOD or in the supply chain supporting such contracts.

Defence: Procurement

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) original forecast in-service date at main gate and  (b) actual in-service date of each post-main gate Category (i) A, (ii) B and (iii) C procurement project was in each of the last two years.

Quentin Davies: The following table gives the actual in service date for category A, B and C post main gate projects in each of the last two financial years for which results have been published together with the originally forecast in service date at main gate:
	
		
			  In service date forecast at main gate  Actual in service date  Category  Project title 
			 June 2006 April 2006 B General health and usage monitoring system 
			 October 2007 May 2006 C JACAMARSecure radio system 
			 December 2002 June 2006 A Sting Ray Life Extension and Capability Upgrade 
			 July 2004 July 2006 A Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) 
			 July 2006 September 2006 B Javelin Follow-On Buy 
			 October 2006 September 2006 C Chinook Coherence 
			 October 2005 October 2006 B TROJAN and TITAN 
			 March 2006 October 2006 C Thermal Sighting System for the Self Propelled High Velocity Missile Weapon System 
			 July 2002 January 2007 C Saturn for Lynx Mk8 
			 March 2007 March 2007 B Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System 
			 March 2007 March 2007 B Royal Navy Joint Tactical Information Distribution System 
			 July 2006 March 2007 C Future fire control system 
			 December 2007 June 2007 C Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corp (ARRC)Command and Control Information System 
			 September 2007 July 2007 A PICASSO 
			 August 2008 September 2007 C Dismounted Counter Mine Capability 
			 November 2006 November 2007 B PANTHER Command and Liaison Vehicle (CLV) 
			 May 2008 January 2008 B Defence HF Communications Service 
			 January 2008 January 2008 B High Velocity Missile Procurement (Tranche 4) 
			 August 2006 February 2008 C Fire Control Battlefield Information Systems Application 
			 September 2005 February 2008 A Support Vehicle 
			 May 2008 March 2008 C Tomahawk Block IV Weapon System

Submarines

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what locations will be included in the Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Submarine Dismantling Project; what timetable he has set for the conduct of the assessment; and against what criteria the assessment will be made.

Quentin Davies: The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Submarine Dismantling Project (SDP) will consider location options for both the submarine dismantling facility and the interim storage of the resulting Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW). In both cases, the SEA proposes to consider the following types of location:
	(i) Conduct activity at a Green-Field (not previously developed) location;
	(ii) Conduct activity at a Brown-Field (previously developed) location; and
	(iii) Conduct activity at an existing nuclear licensed/ authorised location.
	It is the intention for the SEA report to be completed before spring 2010, following a period of public consultation.
	Assessment will be made against the criteria detailed in EU Directive 2001/42/EC 'On the Assessment of the Effects of Certain Plans and Programmes on the Environment' and the 'Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 (SI 2004 No 1633)'. It should be noted that the latter document normally applies only to England but, in line with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now Department of Communities and Local Government) guidance, is also applicable to those activities with a UK-wide remit.